PayPal is a publicly traded company
Founded: 1998
Country of origin: USA
Industry: Financial Technology
Owner: Various, No majority owner
Type of Company: Public
Traded as: PYPL (Nasdaq)
Headquarters: San Jose, California, USA
Website: www.paypal.com
What is PayPal?
PayPal is an American multinational financial technology company that operates an online payments system. It offers an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods like checks and money orders, and acts as a payment processor for online vendors, auction sites, and other commercial users. PayPal allows users to send, receive, and hold funds in 25 currencies worldwide.
Current Ownership
PayPal is a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The current ownership is mainly made up of institutional investors. These are investors that buy stocks on behalf of others. These can be pension funds, mutual funds and insurance companies to mention a few.
PayPal Ownership History
- 1998: PayPal was established as Confinity by Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, and others.
- 2000: Confinity merged with X.com, an online financial services company founded by Elon Musk and others.
- 2002: After going public, PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in stock, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay.
- 2014: eBay announced that it would spin off PayPal into a separate publicly traded company.
- 2015: The spin-off was completed, and PayPal became an independent company again.
PayPal leadership
This is the PayPal leadership at the time of writing:
- Alex Chriss: President and CEO
- Peggy Alford: EVP, Global Sales and Merchant Services
- Jonathan Auerbach: Executive Vice President
- Isabel Cruz: EVP, Chief People Officer
- Archana Deskus: EVP, Chief Technology Officer
- Michelle Gill: EVP, General Manager, Small Business and Financial Services Group
- Aaron Karczmer: EVP, Chief Enterprise Services Officer
- Frank Keller: SVP, General Manager, Large Enterprise Group
- John Kim: EVP, Chief Product Officer
- Jamie Miller: EVP, Chief Financial Officer
- Blimal Patel: SVP, General Counsel
- Kausik Rajgopal: EVP, Strategy, Corporate Development and Parternships
- Diego Scotti: EVP, General Manager, Consumer Group and Global Marketing & Communications
PayPal Assets
PayPal have made numerous acquisitions throughout the years, and thus owns a wide range of assets made to strengthen their position as the leader in the business of financial technology. These include:
- Braintree: A payment gateway providing merchant accounts and services.
- Venmo: A mobile payment service for peer-to-peer transactions.
- Xoom Corporation: A service for international money transfers.
- Honey: A browser extension for finding online shopping discounts.
- Paydiant: Offers mobile wallet technology for businesses.
- iZettle: A European fintech company providing mobile payment services and point-of-sale technology.
- Zettle: A tool for small businesses to process card payments.
PayPal History
- 1998: PayPal was founded as Confinity by Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, Luke Nosek, and others. Initially, it was a company that developed security software for handheld devices.
- 1999: The first version of the PayPal electronic payments system was launched.
- 2000: Confinity merged with X.com, an online financial services company founded by Elon Musk. Following internal disagreements, Musk was replaced by Peter Thiel as CEO. The company focused solely on the PayPal service.
- 2001: The company was renamed PayPal.
- 2002: PayPal went public with an IPO. Shortly after, it was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion, becoming eBay’s default payment method.
- 2005-2008: PayPal made several acquisitions, including VeriSign payment solution and Fraud Sciences, and expanded its services globally.
- 2010: The company had over 100 million active user accounts.
- 2011-2012: PayPal started moving its business offline, allowing customers to make payments via PayPal in stores. It also partnered with Discover Card to extend its payment services.
- 2013: Acquired IronPearl and Braintree, enhancing its product development and mobile services.
- 2014: eBay announced that it would spin off PayPal into a separate publicly traded company.
- 2015: The spin-off was completed, and PayPal became an independent company again. It also acquired Xoom Corporation, a digital money transfer company.
- 2018: PayPal expanded its services and partnerships, including acquiring Swedish payment processor iZettle.
- 2019: Partnered with Instagram for the “Checkout on Instagram” feature and announced the departure of COO Bill Ready.
Frequently Asked Questions about PayPal
Who created PayPal?
PayPal was created by a group of innovators known as the “PayPal Mafia.” The key figures include Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, Luke Nosek, Ken Howery, Yu Pan, and Elon Musk. Musk joined the team after the merger of his company, X.com, with Confinity, which initially developed PayPal.
Is PayPal Safe?
Yes, PayPal is generally safe for buyers and sellers. It employs end-to-end encryption, fraud prevention measures, and buyer and seller protections. Users’ financial information is encrypted and not shared with merchants, and PayPal offers dispute resolution services for unauthorized transactions and issues with sellers.
Is Venmo owned by PayPal?
Yes, Venmo is owned by PayPal. PayPal acquired Braintree in 2013, and as a part of this acquisition, they gained ownership of Venmo. Venmo is a mobile payment service that allows users to transfer money to one another, and it has become especially popular among younger users.
Does eBay own PayPal?
No, eBay does not currently own PayPal. Originally, PayPal was acquired by eBay in 2002 and became a widely used payment option on the platform. However, in 2015, eBay spun off PayPal as an independent publicly traded company, and since then, PayPal has operated separately from eBay.